A Week That Changed the Conversation

Two Things Happened

At this week's well-attended budget workshop, two developments signal something important about where Carmel is headed.

The first was the continuation of a budget process unlike any this city has seen. Staff came in having done the hard work of examining every line of spending. Some of those reductions, as Mayor Protem Buder noted with his usual directness, went past muscle, past bone, and into marrow. We added some funding back where it made sense but encouraged staff to keep their eyes open for savings.

The process itself was exactly right and this change in culture at City Hall is healthy. A standing expectation to look hard at what we spend, what we get for it, and whether we can do better. That is a real shift, and it is happening quickly because this council and staff understand something fundamental: time is not on our side.

The second development was just as significant.

A Remarkable Turn

Former Mayor Ken White, who had a front row seat to the Eastwood administration and was involved in the last serious but ultimately unsuccessful effort to build an underground parking garage, came forward with news of a new tourism task force. The group includes the Carmel Residents Association, the Carmel Chamber of Commerce, Visit Carmel, and See Monterey.

This follows one of the most thorough council reviews and village debate on tourism marketing in recent memory as we look to redirect more resources toward capital projects and bring the overtourism discussion into sharper focus. Councilmember Delves asked the group to return in June with goals and a progress report.

That task force represents exactly the kind of alignment this moment calls for. Instead of separate organizations each advocating for their share of the marketing budget, we may now have a coordinated effort working toward shared goals. With the Carmel Residents

Association and Chamber at the table, the conversation broadens beyond reach and impressions to how tourism is actually experienced by the people who live here, work here, and run businesses here.

Putting Numbers to It

Shared goals only work if tied to clear measures of success, commonly called Key Performance Indicators, or KPIs. At their core, KPIs are agreed-upon outcomes that tell us whether a strategy is working. Two examples worth starting with: Is the gap between our busiest weekend days and quieter midweek periods getting smaller? And on peak days, when every parking space is taken and overflow fills residential streets, is that trend improving? Both are measurable. Neither is currently tracked.

A task force with four strong partners and a clear Council mandate could be well positioned to propose a range of meaningful KPIs and hold itself accountable. The same is true for City staff.

Putting Time on Our Side

Carmel is not alone in facing these challenges. Other coastal communities are investing aggressively and nearby jurisdictions are building infrastructure designed to attract the same visitors we depend on. The decisions we make now, how we spend, how we measure, and how we manage, will shape this village for a generation.

What gives me confidence is the pace of change. The budget discipline we demonstrated this week and the task force that stepped forward that same night are not separate developments. They are two expressions of the same understanding: the old ways of doing business are no longer sufficient, and Carmel is ready to adapt.

The new tourism task force has important work ahead. We will be watching and rooting for them as the City moves into the final stretch of this budget cycle with important ballot measure decisions pending.

(Note: To hear a podcast generated from this column go to cli.re/kpi).

Dale Byrne, Mayor, Carmel-by-the-Sea 

dbyrne@cbts.us